“At this point we are not representing just Shakhtar Donetsk. We are representing the whole country,” said Palkin, ahead of four matches in London this fall and winter. “For us, it’s also to support Ukrainian people who left their homes and moved to London, to England. And therefore, these games completely change context. It’s very important every time to send messages to support Ukraine.”
Shakhtar’s survival among Europe’s elite is emblematic of Ukraine’s own endurance against Moscow’s bombardment. Forced out of Donetsk in 2014, the club has spent more than a decade moving between temporary host cities while keeping its Champions League ambitions alive throughout the war, despite the difficulty of attracting top European signings while based in a war zone.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, Shakhtar Donetsk has played “home” matches in Poland and Germany. Club bosses are thrilled to be based in England for this season’s games against Greece’s AEK Athens, Portugal’s Sporting CP, Turkey’s Fenerbahçe and Spain’s Real Madrid. “[London] is the capital of the football world,” Palkin said.
“We don’t have pressure. We want to play football. We are 24/7 under stress in Ukraine. And we want to just go out and play for our fans, for Ukraine,” added Srna, a former star defender for Shakhtar Donetsk and the Croatian national team.
Invest in Ukraine
Large white letters adorn Shakhtar Donetsk’s orange and black jersey bearing the name of SCM, the country’s biggest private financial and industrial investment company, owned by Ukraine’s richest man and the club owner, Rinat Akhmetov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unabating assault has cost tens of thousands of lives in Ukraine, and also caused hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure across the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has crisscrossed the globe in recent months trying to maintain Western support for Kyiv, as it runs short on cash and critical air defenses.